


Renewal of Youth

by paynesgrey



Category: Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
Genre: F/M, Ficlet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-03
Updated: 2010-03-03
Packaged: 2020-10-04 11:56:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20470649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paynesgrey/pseuds/paynesgrey
Summary: Motherhood has done Mrs. Brandon well.





	Renewal of Youth

**Author's Note:**

> Post-book (or the BBC series). Written for the "Tangle" theme at [](http://fanfic-bakeoff.livejournal.com/profile)[fanfic_bakeoff](http://fanfic-bakeoff.livejournal.com/).

Marriage had certainly done Marianne well, and Colonel Brandon shuddered in memory of when she was near consumption after giving her love to a most wretched man.

Luckily she had healed, freshly renewed to love again. He would never doubt her love for him either. She was completely and wholly his, in body and soul.

With marriage her heart matured, but it was motherhood that revived life back to her eyes and face. Marriage only did that slightly, and Colonel Brandon was certainly not offended, not when it was their daughter Charlotte that brought the glow back to her skin and returned the wind to her spirit.

He feigned reading in his library that afternoon, only to watch his beloved wife play with his daughter outside. He delighted in their laughter and cries as they ran through his estate gardens, and his wife gained the honor of counting while Charlotte hid somewhere within the labyrinth of tall bushes. The exuberant Mrs. Brandon would call out for their daughter, laughing as she searched, and upon finding the lost treasure, he'd hear his daughter's elated screech as mother and daughter ran after each other toward the house.

Leaving to observe their games more closely, his wife noticed him walk through the door, and he saw her eyes soften at the sight of him, while all games were halted when Charlotte spotted him as well. "Papa!" She ran toward him, and he picked her up and held her securely against him, and turned his attention on his wife.

He observed their exercise had brought a lovely flush to her face, and he extended his hand and retrieved a tangled leaf in her curls. A deeper flush pleased him, but it was her impulsive kiss of gratitude that had extended his joy even further.  



End file.
